Well Black Monday in the NFL has come and gone with a few coaches picking up their pink slips, and heading out the door. Some earlier than others such as the firing of Wade Phillips, Josh McDaniels, Brad Childress, and Mike Singletary and prior to seasons end, John Fox, and the inevitable firing of Eric Mangini, being kicked out yet again. All these moves seem to make sense, but the last one may shock you as we found out tonight that the Oakland Raiders, yes, Al Davis’ Oakland Raiders declined to pick up Head Coach Tom Cable’s option for the upcoming season, making it a toss up as to who is lucky enough to be named head coach of the Raiders. Many think it will be Current Offensive Coordinator Hue Jackson, an Al Davis favorite, (the 6th head coach since Jon Gruden whom was traded) ….yes Gruden was traded in 2003. Cable has provided the pitiful Raiders with a bit of consistency, in a period of turmoil and foolishness for the past 7 seasons, leading the Raiders to an average, but acceptable 8-8 record this season and going 6-0 in the AFC West… BUT what does Ole Man Uncle Al do? Can em’, sure great move Al.

As life goes on, so do periods in the NFL, many teams will choose new head coaches by the weeks end, and maybe even a few more getting the axe (cough, Tony Sparano, cough) but the one name that remains a hot commodity, is Stanford University’s Jim Harbaugh. I’m sure many of you saw his awkward, and odd post game interview after his Cardinals won the Orange Bowl, riding the arm of Andrew Luck, where he begged for the respect of his team, since he was unprepared to answer the question. Harbaugh is garnering attention from a few teams with the San Francisco 49ers expected to be the favorite, and could even lock him up as soon as Friday. Other teams include the Raiders, possibly Dolphins, and of course, his current team, the Stanford Cardinals.

Ah, onto the other available names, and are they ever big ones such as Bill Cowher, Jon Gruden, and now the recently fired, John Fox. There are a few open positions available, after the Cowboys, Vikings, Giants, even the Texans, and Bengals, which all kept their current coaches; (Garrett, Frazier, Coughlin, and surprisingly, the even clueless, Gary Kubiak, and Marvin Lewis.) Carolina, San Francisco, Cleveland, and Denver are openings that remain vacant. To be honest I don’t see Cowher or Gruden fitting in any with any of those positions, and with the current CBA, you can rest assure money wont be flying all over the place.

Eric Mangini canned, AGAIN.

So another NFL season goes by, and the Coaching Carousel continues, honestly, will it ever stop?